Legacy vs. Family Tree Maker

Here is a list of some of the differences between Legacy and Family Tree Maker.
Granted, this list is coming from a biased point of view but we feel that Legacy has a lot
of great features that Family Tree Maker left out. Features that make using the program
faster and easier.

Click here to find out why more Family Tree
Maker users are switching to Legacy!

Display the Child List window and then just highlight the child to move and press the
UP and DOWN arrows to reposition.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

For each child to move, click on the child. Select the Move Child From option from the
People Menu. Click in the list where you want the child to go. Select the Move Child To
option from the People Menu.

Legacy has a Source Clipboard (tm) that can hold up to five different source citations
at once. These can be assigned to individual events with the click of a button. You can
also save up to ten groups of citations for future use, switching between them from a
right-click popup menu. Any sources on the Source Clipboard can be assigned from any
information input window.

Legacy tracks the last 160 individuals you have viewed. You can either use the History
List to jump back to a previously view person, or use the Forward and Backward History
arrows to rotate through them.

Each individual and each marriage can have three different tags applied to it. These
tags can be used to keep track of anything you want. For example, you can could use level
one tags to create a group of people for which you want to print a report. or perhaps
level two tags to mark a few people you want to export and send to Aunt Mabel. or level
three tags to keep track of individuals or marriages you want to further research on. The
possibilities are endless!

Both a Family View and Pedigree View are available for navigating back and forth
between ancestors and descendants. The Family View displays three generations including a
main couple, their parents and their children. The Pedigree View shows four or five
generations, a spouse/child list and a siblings list. Both views offer complete editing
capabilities.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

Only a two-generation Family view is offered and only four children at a time are
displayed. (Legacy shows fifteen children at a time.) Looking at the screen, you have no
idea who the Husband's and Wife's parents are unless the cursor is in the Husbands
or Wifes information.

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LDS Support
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Submitting Names to the Temple
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--- Legacy ---

Legacy has full integration with FamilySearch which allows you to prepare and print ordinance cards to take to the Temple.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

You can export a GEDCOM file to be read by Temple- Ready but that is as far as they go.
No marking of records is done at all.

The Name List includes a block of eight detail fields that display information about
the current person. You can set these detail fields to show any information (including
Soundex Codes for surnames). You can search for records in the Name List by either RIN
number or surname. You can jump into the list to any letter by pressing the Letter
buttons. Records can be tagged on three levels and bookmarked. Customized reports can be
printed.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

Only the birth and death dates are shown on the index. No other information can be
displayed and no reports can be printed.

Legacy offers many search options. There is a simple fill-in-the-blanks form, a
detailed search form that accepts multiple search criteria using AND and OR, and multiple
special-case searches. You can search for:

All the family members of a specific individual.

All the ancestors or descendants of a person.

The oldest direct-line ancestors of a person.

The youngest descendants of a person.

End-of-line ancestors and descendants of a person.

Linked individuals with no children.

Linked individuals with no parents.

Unlinked individuals.

Individuals with bad dates

Searches can be used to create sub-lists of individuals that can be used for tagging
and other purposes.

Multiple search lists can be combined together.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

You can only search for people by filling in one field. No lists can be created.

Legacy has the most intelligent merging feature on the market and shows you the most
information about individual pairs so you can make informed decisions when combining
duplicates. You can set the comparison parameters used to determine who is presented as a
possible duplicates. You can even stop a merge session and resume later, right where you
left off. When merging, you can decide which information to keep in the resulting
record. The rest can either be copied into the notes field, or made into an event, or put
into the alternate names list. You don't have to give up any valuable information with
combining records.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

If there are any differences in the spelling of names or relationships, records will
not even be presented for merging. When merging two people, you have the choice of which
information to keep. the rest is discarded!

Legacy prints blank forms for Family Group Sheets, Individual Reports, Census forms for
all available US census years from 1800 to 1920 and the 1801 and 1811 Canadian censuses.
You can also print customized Questionnaires to send out to request information, and blank
Research Logs to assist you in your research efforts.

--- Family Tree Maker ---

FTM will print a blank Family Group Sheet that is four pages long! Some other reports
can be printed blank but all they do is blank out the existing names. No standard Pedigree
chart is available and no blank Census, questionnaire or research logs are available.